NEWPORT, Ark. (AP) - Voters in Jackson County have approved two sales tax issues that will pay for a new 100-bed county jail.

On Tuesday, voters passed a three-eighths percent sales tax for construction and another three-eighths percent sales tax for maintenance. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports (http://is.gd/DcZG9s ) that the two taxes are expected to raise about $1.4 million annually.

The construction tax will be dropped once the $8.8 million building in Newport is complete.

The current 26-bed jail has routinely failed state inspections. Officials say the jail occasionally holds more than double its capacity and that the 9-by-9 -foot cells do not comply with state standards.

Jackson County Sheriff Davis Lucas says he will take to architects soon to begin work on the construction process.